Chinese lucky numbers and symbols
A number is lucky or unlucky for what it sounds like. Learn the sounds and the whole system makes sense.
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Lucky and unlucky numbers
| Number | Sounds like | So it means |
|---|---|---|
| 3 三 sān | 生 shēng, “life” | life; lucky |
| 4 四 sì | 死 sǐ, “death” | death; unlucky |
| 6 六 liù | 溜 liū, “smooth” | things go smoothly; lucky |
| 7 七 qī | 齐 qí, “even, together”; 欺 qī, “to cheat” | mixed |
| 8 八 bā | 发 fā, “to prosper” | wealth; the luckiest |
| 9 九 jiǔ | 久 jiǔ, “long-lasting” | long life and love; lucky |
八是一个吉利的数字。
lucky; auspicious
Why 8 is so lucky
八 (bā) is close to 发 (fā), as in 发财 (fācái), “to get rich”. People pay for it: in 2003 Sichuan Airlines paid ¥2.33 million for the phone number +86 28 8888 8888, and the Beijing Olympics opened on 8 August 2008 at 8:08 in the evening1. Written 88, it also looks like 囍, the “double happiness” sign at weddings.
Why 4 is unlucky
四 (sì) sounds like 死 (sǐ), “to die”. The fear is strongest among Cantonese speakers, and some buildings in East Asia skip floors and room numbers with a 4 in them, the way some Western buildings have no 13th floor1. In money gifts, the amount usually ends in an even digit, since odd amounts belong to funerals; 9 is the exception, for “long-lasting”4.
Number codes: 520, 1314 and 250
Numbers are also read out for the words they sound like, in messages and in shops1:
| Number | Read as | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 520 | 我爱你 wǒ ài nǐ | I love you |
| 1314 | 一生一世 yīshēng yīshì | for a lifetime; forever |
| 168 | 一路发 yīlù fā | prosper all the way |
| 518 | 我要发 wǒ yào fā | I’m going to get rich |
| 250 | 二百五 èrbǎiwǔ | an idiot (an insult) |
More codes like these are on our Chinese slang page.
Lucky symbols
| Symbol | Chinese | Why it is lucky |
|---|---|---|
| Upside-down 福 | 福 fú, “good fortune” | 倒 (dào, upside down) sounds like 到 (dào, arrive): “good fortune has arrived” |
| Fish | 鱼 yú | sounds like 余 (yú), “surplus”, as in 年年有余, “plenty every year” |
| Red | 红 hóng | the color of luck and celebration |
| Chinese knot | 中国结 Zhōngguó jié | a red knot of one cord, for luck and prosperity |
| Red envelope | 红包 hóngbāo | money given at New Year and weddings |
| Lucky cat | 招财猫 zhāocáimāo | “the cat that beckons wealth”, waving in shop windows |
| Lucky bamboo | 富贵竹 fùguìzhú | “wealth and honor bamboo” |
The upside-down 福 is a pun: hung upside down on a door at New Year, 福倒了 (fortune is upside down) sounds just like 福到了 (fortune has arrived)5. Fish is eaten or set on the table on New Year’s Eve for 余, a surplus to carry into the new year3. Chinese knots come in many colors, but red, for luck and prosperity, is the usual one6.
Two of them aren’t what they seem. The lucky cat is Japanese, the maneki-neko, so common in Chinese shops and Chinatowns that it is often taken for Chinese7. And lucky bamboo isn’t bamboo: it is a Dracaena, a plant native to Central Africa8.
Red and the other colors have their own guide, Chinese colors and their meanings, and Chinese etiquette covers the gifts never to give. To say every number aloud, see Chinese numbers.
Questions
What is the luckiest number in Chinese?
8 (八, bā), because it sounds like 发 (fā), “to prosper”. 6 (smooth) and 9 (long-lasting) are lucky too.
Why is 4 unlucky in Chinese?
四 (sì) sounds like 死 (sǐ), “death”. Some buildings in East Asia skip floors and room numbers with a 4 in them.
What does 520 mean in Chinese?
“I love you”: 五二零 (wǔ èr líng) sounds like 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ). 1314 sounds like 一生一世, “for a lifetime”, so 5201314 is “I love you forever”.
Sources
Checked on 27 October 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if one has.
- Wikipedia: Chinese numerology (what each number sounds like, 8 and the 2008 Olympics, skipped 4th floors, 520 and 1314)
- Wikipedia: Homophonic puns in Standard Chinese (149 characters read yì, fish and 余, bats and 福, the upside-down 福)
- Wikipedia: Chinese New Year, symbolic foods (fish for 余)
- Wikipedia: Red envelope (who gives them, even amounts, the exception of 9)
- Wikipedia: Fu (character), and why it is hung upside down
- Wikipedia: Chinese knotting (中国结)
- Wikipedia: Maneki-neko, the lucky cat
- Wikipedia: Dracaena sanderiana, lucky bamboo